Guardian Angel (sort of)
by Acorna
Summary: A young girl wakes up to find herself in Bilbo's house just before he leaves Frodo the ring. She get's swept up in the quest to destroy the ring, but the catch is... no one can see her, hear her, or even has any clue that she's there.
1. It begins

Disclaimer: As I'm sure everyone realizes, I do not own any of the Lord of the Ring characters or locations nor do I own rights to the either the novel or the movie, etc.  
  
  
  
I opened my eyes to find myself in a strange little hallway. A coat rack hung on the wall to the left of me, while directly before me was a little round door. The ceiling was low; it couldn't have been much higher than 6 feet. A small stool stood near the entrance; it looked as if it were designed for a child… in fact everything seemed of small proportion.  
  
I groaned, lowered my head, and began massaging my temple… the last thing I remember was walking to school when a car whipped around the corner and came straight towards me. I snapped my head up straight, "Oh my God, it must have hit me… Could I be," I paused taking in a deep breath to calm myself, "dead? Or maybe I'm just in a coma… Yeah, maybe this is just a dream. It would make sense, I read so much fantasy that I probably just put myself into this scenario… yeah that's it…unless… I am dead and this is heaven? Hell? Purgatory?" I groaned again, "This can't be good whatever it is."  
  
I looked around some more trying to figure out what this place was... I wouldn't accept the idea of being dead, and everything felt too real to be a dream. It was cozy whatever it was. I walked into the next room to find an assortment of paper and writing utensils, as well as a few maps. I bent over to look at them deciding it was best not to disturb anything. Laying on op of the pile was hand drawn map with a picture of a mountain. There were two different languages written on it, English and one other that I was unable to determine. In the lower left corner was written Thror's Map.  
  
"I wonder if this house belongs to someone named Thror... it certainly is an unusual name..." I mumbled to myself before continuing to look around. As I walked past one of the little round windows I heard the explosion of fireworks outside. The sky was filled with sparkling colours and the cries of awe rose over the sound of the show.  
  
By the time the sound of the fireworks stopped, I had made my way back to the front door. I doubt I'd even searched half of the rooms, the place seemed to have hundreds of passageways. I was about to give up and sit down in the middle of the floor when the little door began to open. Well, here goes... I hope whoever they are isn't mad about my being in their house... I thought to myself.  
  
The door opened wide then closed, and as far as I could tell it did it by itself. I began to walk over to the door when a little man appeared out of thin air right in front of me. He was about 4 feet tall, and had short curly hair that fell over his little pointed ears. He also had the hairiest feet I'd ever seen in my life. He was laughing as he looked at the little gold ring in his hand before flipping it and putting it in his pocket. I was about to speak to him, to apologize for being there when he proceeded to walk right through me, pick up a walking stick and continue into the next room.  
  
I stood there for a few seconds trying to wrap my mind around what just happened when I heard a deep voice from the other room say, "I suppose you think that was terribly clever?" It couldn't have been the little man, there's no way his voice could be that deep.  
  
"Huh? Excuse me? Are you talking to me?" I started to say when I heard another voice, presumably the little one's voice respond, "Come on, Gandalf. Did you see their faces?"  
  
"There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly."  
  
"It was just a bit of fun... oh you're probably right, as usual."  
  
Magic ring? Well I guess that would explain the invisible part... and possibly the walking through me... but how come neither of them can see me? I thought as I walked into the room with them and began to wave my arms at them in desperation. This is really starting to scare me.  
  
They began to talk about another person... some Frodo person. I assumed he was another little person like Bilbo, and hopefully he'd be able to see me. Bilbo and Gandalf began to talk about how Bilbo was leaving, and not coming back. I sat down on the floor and listened to them. Normally I wouldn't eavesdrop... but since I had no clue what was going on, and they couldn't see me I figured it couldn't hurt... that, and I hoped their conversation might shed some light on my situation. Even if I only figured out where I was, at least it would be a start.  
  
The two continued to talk about the ring, all the while Bilbo began to get more and more agitated. He began to shout at Gandalf, saying the ring was his and that Gandalf was trying to steal it. Even though they couldn't see me, I began to back up slowly... Bilbo was giving me the creeps.  
  
Then, out of the blue, Gandalf grew larger and all the light in the little room seemed to grow dim. "Bilbo Baggins, do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks! I am not trying to rob you," Gandalf faced softened after this, as Bilbo began to whimper, "I'm trying to help you." After this Bilbo embraced Gandalf. "All the long years we've been friends... trust me as you once did. Let it go"  
  
"You're right Gandalf... the ring must go to Frodo."  
  
You know... if this is what that ring does to people, I don't think I'd want it. I thought sarcastically to myself.  
  
Bilbo packed up all his papers and a few other items then proceeded to head to the door. As he was about to leave the little house, Gandalf reminded him that he still had the ring. He pulled it out and stared at it. It was as if it had a great hold on him, I shuddered involuntarily. Slowly, he rotated his hand and let the ring fall to the floor. Then he turned and left the house, but he stopped a few feet from the door and turned back to Gandalf. "I've thought up an ending for my book. And he lived happily ever after, 'til the end of his days."  
  
"Gandalf knelt to say his farewells, "And I'm sure you will my dear friend..."  
  
The goodbye brought a tear to my eye, as I watched Bilbo walk down to the path and begin singing to himself as he left his home forever.  
  
Once Bilbo had disappeared into the distance Gandalf re-entered the house. He looked down at the ring with purpose as I watched him from against the wall. He bent down as if to pick it up, but as his fingers made contact with the metal, his face contorted ever so slightly and he backed away from it. Then he moved into the next room, lighted a pipe, and sat starring into space.  
  
I watched him for a few minutes before going to look at the ring myself. I bent over and looked at the ring. It looked ordinary enough. It was a simple gold band, no markings, nothing. I reached out and touched the smooth surface. Instantly everything in the room disappeared only to be replaced by darkness. And at the center of this darkness was what looked like an eye made of fire. I can only describe what I felt by using the word evil. It was horrible, I felt like screaming. I was so startled that I thrust away from the ring so fast I lost my balance and slammed into the floor. I sat there dazed for a few seconds, my heart pounding in my chest. I'd never been so scared in my life. 


	2. Revelations

Disclaimer: As I'm sure everyone realizes, I do not own any of the Lord of the Ring characters or locations nor do I own rights to the either the novel or the movie, etc.  
  
Note 1: I do realize that in the books Gandalf was gone for more than a few days, but in following the movie and in attempting to keep the character from spending an extremely long time in this adventure I have shorten it. If it bothers you, feel free to rant about it in a review :)  
  
Note 2: Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything more. Not like it's much of an excuse, but going to school definitely drains away most of my time. And well, I guess I've been lazy too.  
  
Any way. onto part 2:  
  
§ § § § §  
  
As I sat letting my heart slow, I watched Gandalf in his trance-like state. He must have seen the same thing I saw; and from the look of it, he knew something about it. I watched him, trying to get some clue as to what was going on but, before I could figure anything out another small man, or boy rather came running into the house.  
He was calling for Bilbo, so I assumed him to be the one named Frodo I heard mentioned. He bent down and picked up the ring, obviously not suffering the same vision that befell Gandalf and myself. Lucky him.  
I saw his face fall ever so slightly, and his eyes seemed to focus into the distance. He stood there for a few moments before saying anything, and when he did I felt my heart drop. "He's gone hasn't he? He talked for so long about leaving, I didn't think he'd really do it." He sounded so sad. I wanted to reach out and comfort him as a friend... but I knew that wasn't possible. He walked into the other room and the signs of concern were added to his face as Gandalf continued to mumble to himself.  
In an instance, Gandalf turned to face the forlorn boy, and told him of Bilbo's trip to go live with the Elves. Wow... Elves, I want to see Elves. If I'm going to be living in some weird place, at least I can see some of the things I've always dreamed of... I thought with wonder. Then again, no one can see me, hear me, and as far as I can tell I can't interact with anything in this world... great, just great. Oh no, what happens when I get hungry? Ummm... let's not think about that right now...  
While I drifted into thoughts of my own problems I vaguely heard Gandalf and Frodo talking about Bilbo and Bag End. I gave them my attention again just in time to see Gandalf leaving, saying something about matters he had to attend to. It has to have something to do with that ring. I know it.but what is he hiding. Obviously the ring had had a profound impact on him, and as he told Frodo to keep it secret and keep it safe I knew that the ring was much more important than he let on to Frodo. Then he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Frodo and I to ponder his words.  
After staring at the envelope containing the ring for some time, Frodo retired for the night. Knowing when to take a good suggestion when presented with one seemed a good idea, so I found a small room to crash in for the night. Though getting to sleep seemed harder than it sounded. The vision I had seen when I reached for the ring haunted me, at some point during the night I drifted off because the next thing I knew I heard pots and pans banging in the kitchen.  
Stretching, I made my way through the little dwelling, the smells of fresh baked bread drifted to my nose. Just as I thought that the bread smelled delicious, I realized I wasn't the least bit hungry, "well, thank goodness for small mercies, if I can walk through people I most certainly won't be able to ingest food."  
So, rather than eat, I decided to sit across the table from Frodo and enjoy the smells. Unfortunately, as I lowered myself to the chair, I realized too late that I actually passing through the chair. I landed with a jolt for the second time in two days.  
"Great, just great. Looks like I better get used to the floor," I muttered to myself. "I wish my physics teacher was here, I would love to hear an explanation of why I can walk through people and objects, but not go through the floor. Does anyone else see a problem in logic with this? Well, I guess not since I'm the only one here. ugh, I've got to stop talking to myself."  
  
§ § § § §  
  
The next few days passed in much the same way, I followed Frodo around as he complete his daily routine, took walks around the village (which I discovered went by the name of hobbiton), and learned what I could about this world and its people.  
It was on a warm evening that Frodo and his friends went to the local pub, having nothing better to do with my time I followed them. Interesting friends to say the least. Sam obviously had a crush on the waitress, Rosy, but was too shy to either say or do anything. I would have prodded him but the whole walk through people thing got in the way. C'est la vie.  
It was dark by the time we left, the moonlight lit our way back to Bag End. Sam walk with us, well I suppose with Frodo since neither had any idea I existed, parting ways once we reached the gate. Frodo entered first and paused, looking over towards the den I could see why. The place was in a state of disarray. I turned to look at Frodo and my heart skipped a beat. A hand was reaching out towards him and grabbed his shoulder. He spun around, but in that instant we both felt relieved as the light revealed Gandalf.  
"Is it secret, is it safe?" he implored, the haggard look on his face spoke of the urgency he dare not say. Immediately Frodo turned and dug through his belongings, producing the ring still sealed in the envelope. Without a word Gandalf grabbed it and threw it into the fire.  
"What are you doing?"  
Remaining silent, Gandalf watched as the envelope was consumed in the flames, revealing the golden ring. Using a pair of tongs he took the ring from the fire and told Frodo to hold out his hand. From Frodo's face of incredulity he obviously thought Gandalf had lost it, and I couldn't blame him. But hold out his hand he did, as Gandalf insisted that it wasn't hot. He dropped the ring into Frodo's hand and turned to ask Frodo if he saw anything. I moved in closer to get a better look, nothing appeared. Gandalf turned in relief, but that relief was short lived. Some form of writing started to glow around it. I could tell immediately from Gandalf's stance that he had fervently hope nothing would appear.  
As Gandalf explained these markings, I felt a chill consume my body. Mordor. The word itself felt evil. He continued his tale, talking of its history and its sixty dormant years, how it had passed from a creature called Golem to Bilbo, and finally that the servants of Sauron knew of its location and were coming for it. 


End file.
